June 19, 2009

KANKAKEE, Ill. - University of Illinois sophomore-to-be Samantha Sloan earned medalist honors and the top seed in the championship flight of the Illinois Women's Amateur Championship after firing an even-par 72 in the qualifying round at the Kankakee Country Club on Tuesday, June 16. The Lansing, Ill., native nearly reached the finals of match play, but was edged by Chelsea Renee Harris of Austin Peay State in the semifinals. Fellow sophomore Hailey Koschmann joined Sloan in the championship flight by tying for fifth with a 77 in qualifying, but also fell to Harris in the quarterfinals.

Sloan won 3 and 2 in each of her first two matches over Emily Calhoon and Jan Bowers, respectively. In her quarterfinal round, she topped Brittany Atterbury 2 and 1, but dropped a heartbreaker to Harris in the semifinals. The close match came down to the final hole where Harris defeated Sloan 1 up in the afternoon round. Koschmann dominated her opening round match against Kim Dickerson, winning 9 and 8, and defeated Alice Kang 5 and 4 in the second round before losing 5 and 4 to Harris in the quarterfinals.

The State Amateur tournament format is match play, with an 18-hole qualifying round to determine flights. Championship is seeded with 32 players, with all other flights of composed of 8 players. The tournament is open to all women amateur golfers, who are residents of Illinois, with a handicap of 30 or less. For more information visit the Illinois State Amateur Homepage.

Full results of the IWGA Match Play Championship can be found HERE.